Semiwood wheel for motor trucks



E. K. BAKER.

SEMIWOOD WHEEL FUR MOTUR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.15 I919.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

yn I izen of the UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERLE KING BAKER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO BAKER WHEEL 6', RIMCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SEMIWOOD WHEEL FOR MOTOR TRUCKS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERLE K. BAKER, a cit- United States, and a residentof Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Semiwood Wheels for .Motor Trucks, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in automobile wheels of the typeadapted to carry either fixed or demountable pneumatic tire rims, andrelatesmore articularly to wheels of a type adapted to the carrying ofgreat loads, such as are met with in motortruck practice.

While wheels of both metal and wood have been used in motor-truckpractice, it is quite generally wheel has certain advantages that arenot to be found in the all-metal wheel. One such desirable feature foundin the wooden wheel is that of greater resiliency and the consequentsmaller transmission of destructive forces. to the axle and other partsof the vehicle. Resiliency in a motor truck wheel is particularlynecessary where the wheel is provided with a hard or solid rubber tire,because of the excessive vibration which such tire entails. However, itis also uite necessary and desirable, even with the ater practice ofusing large pneumatic tires op motor truck wheels for the reason thatthe tendency, operate the vehicle at such an increased rate of speedthat the vibration and destructive forces set up, and which must beabsorbed to prevent undue injury to the vehicle, are about .the same aswith a solid-tired wheel.

The prevailing type of wooden wheel is composed of a plurality of woodenspokes radiating from a hub portion outwardl the ends of the spokes-being reduced and tenoned in a heavy wooden felly. The wooden fellheretofore necessary, must be made of high-grade wood, such being bentinto an arc, constituting a segment of the wheel. Not only is such fely, wood scarce, but it is also quite difficult to bend and shape and theoperation of making the wheel, as heretofore practiced, requires aworkman having a relatively hlghdegree of skill.

In order to secure the requisite strength for motor trucks of largecapacity the practice has developed of reducing the size ofSpecification of Letters Patent.

admitted that the wooden.

when using a pneumatic tire, is to as is susceptible of Patented Feb.28, 1922.

.Application filed January 15, 1919. Serial No. 271,224.

smaller the diameter of the wooden wheel and hence the less resiliencyin thewheel.

I If it be attempted to secure the requisite resiliency in the woodwheel by providing relatively long spokes, even assumin that otherfactors do not prohibit such a esign, another difficulty is at onceencountered. That is to say, while a short spoke composed of an ordinarygrade of wood furnishes the requisite strength, a long spoke would require. a very high grade of wood, so much so that it would have to beselected stock, which would add greatly to the cost of the wheel.

One of the difliculties that develops in the use of the wooden wheel asheretofore made, is that of looseness between the parts, usually betweenthe spokes and the telly. So soon as a slightlooseness develops,vibrations are set up which, in a short time, grow to such proportionsas to be quick] and violently destructive of the whole w eel.

The general object of m invention is to provide a motor-truck w eelabundantly able to Withstand the forces to which it 13 subjected in useand yet of such a resilient character as to be of practical assistancein absorbing road shocks.

A further object of my invention is to provide a motor-truck wheel of astrong but resilient character, which shall be especially adapted to thecarrying of a pneumatic tire.

Again it is an object of my invention to provide a motor truck structionthat the hitherto individualistic and highly-skilled manufacture andassembly of. each wheelcan be reduced to a factory system in which thespokes can be manufactured in a convenient, simple, and rapid unskilledlabor, with the other sary' to provide a strong and urable, yetresilient, wheel.

wheel of such con- A detailed object of the present invention is toprovide a motor-truck wheel, and a method of manufacturing the same,which shall be adapted to embodiment in a so- 5 called wide mm wheel,such as is commonly found in pneumatically tired truck wheels.

M invention consists generally in a motor truc wheel, and in the methodof producin the same, whereby the above named ob ects and purposes,together with a number of others that will appear hereinafter, areattained; and my invention will be more readily understood by referenceto the drawings, wherein I have adapted what I now consider to be thepreferred embodiment thereof, but which. it should be understood, is byway of illustration and not by of limitation.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheel embodying myinvention, the same bein viewed substantially along the line 11 Fi3:(the fixed rim and demountable rim icing omitted.) Fig. 2 is a sideelevation viewed' substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 3:Fig. 3 is asection taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fi 4 is an enlarged detail viewsubstantia ly on the line 4--l of Fig. 1 ;Fig. 5 is a detail view on theline, 5-5 of Fig. 2: 30 (the demountable rim being omitted.) Fig. 6 isan enlarged view on line 6-.6 of Fig. 2.

Referrin to the drawings, and particularly to ig. 1 it will be observedthat the body of the wheel comprises a plurality of wooden spokes, 1,having mitered ends, 2, adapted to be tightly wedged to ether andthereby defining the hub hole 3. he method of assembling the spokes willbe described hereinafter. To the hub of the wooden part may be securedthe metallic hub, 4, of usual construction. The metallic hub, 4, isprovided with a flange, 5, on one side and upon the 0 posite side willbe found a slip-flange, 6. he metallic hub parts are rigidly secured tothe hub of the wheel, i. e., that portion formed b the portion, 2, ofthe spokes by means 0 suitable bolts, 7, passing through holes, 8. Ifind that twelvespokes, as here shown, is a number well adapted to 50'the average truck wheel. It' is a number large enough to provide amplestrength, even where the wood is not of the most select grade, it spacesthe spoke ends apart a distance suflicient to accommodate the valve stemof the pneumatic tire in an easil accessible manner and it rovides asufli cient number of supports or the fixed rim (hereinafter described)to eliminate any danger of polygonizing same when it is shrunk upon arelatively thin peripheral band.

As .will be observed, I have entirely eliminated the old form of woodenfelly with its expensive, short-lived mortise and tenoned connectionwith the spoke ends.

Instead I employ a metal band, 9, which as a matter of convenience, Ishall term a s acin band.

he xed rim, 10, is preferably formed by bending a flat metal strip,having a flange on one edge, and a rim seat upon the other, intocircular shape, so that the flange extends inwardly and the rim seatfaces outwardly. The fixed rim may be formed of various cross-sectionsby well-known rolling processes, after which the rolled 'metal may becut into desired lengths, sha d to' cylindrical form, and the ends joineas by welding. When completed it presents an inwardly extending flange,11, and an outward or peripheral seat portion, 12, upon which may beseated the tire rim, 14, b the coaction of beveled ortions, 13 an 15,thereof, with the beve ed portion, 12, of the fixed rim and the beveledwedge ring, 16. It will be understood that the tire-contain ing rim isof the so-called demountable construction in which the rim, 14, isseated by the movement axiall of the wheel. The pneumatic tire (not sown) is held in place on the rim, 14, by means of the integral flange,17, at one side and the detachable flange, 18, at the other side, thedetachable flange being held in place by the split ring, 19. Since theseparts are of well-known construction, their various functions will notbe dwelt upon. The demountable rim lugs, 20. are actuated by means ofthe nuts, 21, and bolts, 22, the latter being carried in the inwardlyextending flange, 11, of the fixed rim, 10.

The spacin band is preferably formed by bending 'a fist metal strip intocircular shape and then joining the ends as by welding. The peripheralband is substantially cylindrical in shape but is provided at spacedpoints with sockets, 9 of a size slightly smaller than the outer end ofthe wooden spoke and in such spaced relation that they are in line withthe radiating spokes. The sockets, 9', as shown, are formed by punchingthe metal of the spacing band inward thereby forming a circular flange,9", which embraces the spoke end for a considerable distance.

In order to facilitate assembly of the spokes, I may slightly compressthe ends thereof so that they may be moved radially outward. Thispermits the end of the spoke to P!()]9 Ct through the socket, 9', as iswell shown in Fig. 1, and then forced radially inward into the positiondesired. The reductlon of the spoke end is only temporar as aftercompression the spoke soon swel 3 out thus forming a tight and firmunion between the oke end and the socket. As the socket in t is instanceis metallic, there is little change in size and hence that objectionablelooseness so often found in the mortised and tenoned construction ofwooden spokes and felly wheels is obviated. The assembly of the spokesand spacin band is well shown in Fig. 1. This unit a one is of greatstrength and wh to which it is subjected in use.

he fixed rim is firmly secured upon the spacin band, so that when inplace the union is of. such stre h that relative movement is prevented.is union may be secure in various ways, as for example, by forclng thespacing band and spokes carried thereby into the fixed rim by means ofstrong lateral pressure. Or the union may heating the fixed spacing bandand allowing it to shrink intoplace. It should be noted that the spacingband, 9, is provided with a conical flange, 9", at one side in orderthat it may conform to the conical flange, 15', of the fixed rim. 7

The fixed rim is provided with a hole, 25, and the s acing band with ahole, 26, which bly are aligned and which actire (not shown}.

desire to ca 1 attention to another function served by the spacing band,9, in addition to spacing the wheel spokes, and that is that the fixedrim in the spokes is supported, termediate the spoke ends by the spacingband and thus all danger of the fixed rim, in shrinking is avoided.

Obviousl b dispensing with the sectional parts in the assembled wheeland hence ewer joints that can loosen and cause trouble.

Furthermore by eliminatin the wooden felly, I am enabled to providi arelatively large wooden hub portion in the wheel, such give therequisite strength even for even where polygonizing be elly as I do,there are fewer pneumatic tire. I thus not only provide a strong, yetresilient wheel, but I also provide one in which the spoke portionsprojecting from the hub are not of undue length and can, therefore, bemade of ordinary wood and yet be of. requisite strength.

In a companion application, S. N. 274,- 325, filed January 31, 1919, Ihave presented a similar structure difl'ering herefrom in particularswhich identify the invention with wheels that embody so-called solidrubber tires. A cross reference to this appIlication has been placed inapplication S.

I claim- 1. A semi-wood motor vehicle wheel, comrising a plurality ofradial wooden spokes, aving mutually coactive mitered butts, in

combination with a spoke spacin and spoke holdin metal band ti htly emracin the ends 0% the spokes, and a fixed rim rmly tensioned upon saidspacing band and the ends of said wooden spokes, and sealing theend-grain of the wooden s kes.

semi-wood motor veliihle wheel, comprising a plurality of radial woodenspokes, having mutually coacting mitered butts, in combination with aspoke spaci and spoke holding metal band tightly embracing the ends ofthe spokes, a fixed rim firmly tensioned upon said spacing bandand theends of said wooden spokes and sealing the endgrain of the woodenspokes, said fixed rim and means attached to said fixed rim for seademountable rim thereon.

3. e step in the method of producin a semi-wood wheel that consists inproviding a lplurality of wooden billets, mitering the bi ets at oneend, providing having spoke-end receiving sockets of a size slightlysmaller than the outer ends of the spokes, and slightly compressing theouter ends of the spokes to rmit the positioning thereof in said socets, and afterward permitting said spo and thus rightly fitthOIP-SOCkBtS.

n testimon whereof, I have hereunto set my hand t is 6th day of-Januar1919.

ERLE KING BAl ER.

ke ends to well a fixed rim

